GMB Employee In Court Over Missing Presidential Inputs
A stores controller at Grain Marketing Board (GMB) Chipinge Depot appeared in court on Monday on allegations of stealing 34x50kgs bags of Compound D fertiliser last year.
Tinashe Mafashu (49) of Usanga suburb in Chipinge appeared before Chipinge magistrate, Elizabeth Hanzi facing theft charges.
Mafashu pleaded not guilty and was remanded out of custody to yesterday (Wednesday).
Prosecutor Delia Kathaziye told the court that from 17 May 2021, Compound D fertiliser deliveries were made to GMB Chipinge under the 2021 Presidential Farming Inputs Scheme. Said Kathaziye:
The fertilisers were released into Mafashu’s custody as the stores controller.
His duties include receiving and dispatching stocks and making daily, weekly and monthly stock counts.
From the period extending October 8 to October 29, Mafashu stole 34x50kgs of FSG Compound D fertiliser.
Khataziye added that from 11 October, Mafashu started making excuses not to carry out physical counting of the stock on a daily basis with the security guard, Zebediah Moyana as they were supposed to do. She said:
On October 29, Mafashu noticed that the bags of fertiliser were now few and reported that 34 bags were missing.
The manager carried out a stock check and discovered that they received a total of 14 108x50kgs of compound D, they dispatched 13 283 by 50kgs and they had a remaining stock of 791x50kgs bags, instead of 825x50kgs bags, giving a shortfall of 34x50kg bags of Compound D fertiliser.
The total value of the missing fertiliser is $108 000 and nothing was recovered.
Meanwhile, Mafashu argued that he could not steal the property under his custody, saying maybe a mistake was made while loading some of the dispatched fertiliser.
But one of the witnesses, Pauline Jani, said Mafashu has a case to answer since no unlawful entry case was reported at the depot.
